KR20120058945A - Wireless network based robot cleaner system and method of thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A device and a method for controlling a wireless network-based robot cleaner are provided to clean a wide space by controlling each robot by using a gateway and router and to monitor a cleaning sated by transmitting image information of the cleaning robot. CONSTITUTION: A device for controlling a wireless network-based robot cleaner comprises one or more robot cleaners(130), a gateway(110), and one or more router(120). The robot cleaners have a wireless communication function, thereby cleaning by dividing a wide space. The gateway respectively sets cleaning region for one or more robots and transmits cleaning performance control commands to the robot cleaners. The router receives information of the cleaning regions and cleaning performance control commands from the gateway, thereby transmitting to one ore more robot cleaners. The router transmits position identification signals, thereby informing a position where the router is to the robot which received the signals.

Description

Wireless network based robot cleaner control device and method {WIRELESS NETWORK BASED ROBOT CLEANER SYSTEM AND METHOD OF THEREOF}

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for controlling a robot cleaner based on a wireless network.

The intelligent service robot is a generic term for a robot that is commercialized to be used for various other purposes except for an industrial robot that has been used in a conventional manufacturing site. As the function of the cleaning robot develops, various functions are added to assist the cleaning function. The use of mop cleaning, random driving cleaning, and navigation functions, such as obstacle location recognition and silicone bumper functions to prevent furniture damage, are being expanded.

Meanwhile, with the development of network technology, a robot having a network function has been commercialized, and a home robot such as a cleaning robot is being used as a bidirectional communication terminal function by adding a network function through the Internet.

The technical problem to be solved by the disclosed technology is to provide a method and apparatus that can be efficiently performed in cooperation with a plurality of robots for cleaning a large space.

In order to achieve the above technical problem, a first aspect of the disclosed technology comprises: at least one robot cleaner having a wireless communication function to share and clean a large area; A gateway for assigning each cleaning charge zone to the at least one robot cleaner and transmitting a cleaning performance control command to the at least one robot cleaner; And the at least one robot cleaner receiving the information on the cleaning area and the cleaning execution control command from the gateway and transmitting the cleaning control command to the at least one robot cleaner, and transmitting a positioning signal to receive the positioning signal. It provides a robot cleaner control device including one or more routers to confirm their location.

A second aspect of the disclosed technology to achieve the above technical problem is a method of controlling one or more robot cleaners having a wireless communication function to share and clean a large area, each of which is provided to the one or more robot cleaners. Assigning a cleaning area and assigning a network address by a gateway that transmits a cleaning performance control command to the at least one robot cleaner; One or more routers assigned to the network address and bound to the gateway to perform binding again with the robot cleaners; Receiving, by the router, the responsible area information and the cleaning performance control command from the gateway to the robot cleaners; And confirming a location of the at least one robot cleaner that has received the positioning signal sent by the router.

Embodiments of the disclosed technology can have the effect of including the following advantages. However, the embodiments of the disclosed technology are not meant to include all of them, and thus the scope of the disclosed technology should not be understood as being limited thereto.

According to one embodiment of the disclosed technology, it is possible to perform the efficient cleaning of the large area by controlling the movement of the individual cleaning robot using a gateway and a router. In addition, it is possible to monitor the cleaning state by receiving the image information from the cleaning robot equipped with the image camera.

1 is a schematic view showing a robot cleaner control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing how the cleaning is performed by a plurality of routers and robot cleaner when the cleaning place is a large area.
3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling the robot cleaner when the cleaning place is a large area.
4 is a flowchart for a robot cleaner to perform a feedback algorithm by a method of RSSI.
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing how cleaning is performed by a few routers and robot cleaners when the cleaning place is a small area.
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating that a management server for managing a regional cleaning situation controls a robot cleaner controller for each region through an Internet network.

The description of the disclosed technique is merely an example for structural or functional explanation and the scope of the disclosed technology should not be construed as being limited by the embodiments described in the text. That is, the embodiments may be variously modified and may have various forms, and thus the scope of the disclosed technology should be understood to include equivalents capable of realizing the technical idea.

Meanwhile, the meaning of the terms described in the present application should be understood as follows.

The terms 'first', 'second', etc. are used to distinguish one component from another component and the scope of rights should not be limited by these terms. For example, the first component may be named a second component, and similarly, the second component may also be named a first component.

When a component is referred to as being "connected" to another component, it should be understood that there may be other components in between, although it may be directly connected to the other component. On the other hand, when an element is referred to as being "directly connected" to another element, it should be understood that there are no other elements in between. On the other hand, other expressions describing the relationship between the components, such as "between" and "immediately between" or "neighboring to" and "directly neighboring to", should be interpreted as well.

Singular expressions should be understood to include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, and terms such as "include" or "have" refer to features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or parts thereof described. It is to be understood that the combination is intended to be present, but not to exclude in advance the possibility of the presence or addition of one or more other features or numbers, steps, operations, components, parts or combinations thereof.

Each step may occur differently from the stated order unless the context clearly dictates the specific order. That is, each step may occur in the same order as specified, may be performed substantially simultaneously, or may be performed in the reverse order.

All terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art unless otherwise defined. Terms defined in commonly used dictionaries should be interpreted to be consistent with meaning in the context of the relevant art and can not be construed as having ideal or overly formal meaning unless expressly defined in the present application.

With the development of robot cleaners, the demand for robot cleaners is increasing in various places. Where cleaning of large spaces such as government offices, parks, churches, etc. is required, a cleaning method by cooperation of a plurality of robot cleaners is required due to the cleaning speed of the robot cleaner and limitation of the cleaning area according to the charging capacity. In order to share cleaning information between individual robot cleaners, a method using a wireless network is required. There is also a need for an apparatus for dividing an area of responsibility for individual robot cleaners in a large area and controlling the individual robot cleaners. In addition, there is a need for a device for relaying commands from the control device to overcome the limitation of reach of radio waves.

1 is a schematic view showing a robot cleaner control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown, the robot cleaners 130 are connected through the gateway 110 and the router 120. The gateway 110 assigns each cleaning charge zone to the robot cleaners 130 and transmits a cleaning performance control command to the robot cleaners 130. The cleaning performance control commands include instructions necessary for performing cleaning such as cleaning start, cleaning end, cleaning area assignment, system stop, charging and parking, and the like. The router 120 is wirelessly connected to the gateway 110 and the robot cleaners 130 and transmits the area information and the cleaning performance control command of the robot cleaners 130 transmitted from the gateway 110 to the robot cleaners. . In this case, the connection between the gateway 110, the router 120, and the robot cleaner 130 is connected by any one method selected from TCP / IP, Bluetooth, infrared signals, and ZigBee standards, and in general, the index layer of the transmission signal is simple. Choosing ZigBee is advantageous for connection and signal transmission. When the router 120 transmits a positioning signal including its own position X and Y coordinates to the robot cleaner 130, the robot cleaner 130 may set its own position based on signals received from the routers 120. You can check it. On the other hand, a method using the received signal strength indication (RSSI), a method using the time difference of arrival (TDOA), a method using the time of arrival of the signal (Time of Arrival), It is possible to determine its position by a method selected from the method using chirp spread spectrum and the method of measuring angle of arrival of the signal. When the robot cleaner 130 uses RSSI in an embodiment for checking its location, the robot cleaner 130 may include an RSSI measuring unit for measuring the RSSI. In addition, since the RSSI changes as the robot cleaner 130 moves, the RSSI sensitivity determination unit may determine whether or not the sensitivity of the received RSSI is improved. The positioning of the robot cleaner 130 by RSSI is preferably used when moving to the charging dock for charging or moving to the end position according to the cleaning end. The algorithm for moving to the charging dock by RSSI is performed as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4 and will be described in detail later.

Meanwhile, at least one of the robot cleaners may include an image camera. In addition, the robot cleaner control device may further include a monitoring PC (not shown) for monitoring the cleaning state through the image information collected from the robot cleaner 130. Through a robot cleaner and a monitoring PC equipped with an image camera, the manager can check the cleaning status without having to go directly to the cleaning site to check. Monitoring PC (not shown) is preferably connected to the gateway. According to an embodiment, the robot cleaner having the image camera may transmit image information to the gateway 110 through the router 120. At this time, the monitoring PC (not shown) and the gateway are connected by selecting a wireless or wired method of TCP / IP standard or any one selected from RS-232, RS-422 and RS-485.

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing how the cleaning is performed by a plurality of routers and robot cleaner when the cleaning place is a large area. According to one embodiment, the cleaning area is divided by nine routers 120a, and the robot cleaners each cover four divided spaces of five. However, the number of routers 120a and the robot cleaners 130a and the number of divided spaces are not limited thereto and may have various embodiments depending on the reach of radio waves and the shape of the cleaning place. The parts described with respect to the gateway 110a, the router 120a, the robot cleaner 130a, and the monitoring PC 140a according to an embodiment are also applied to the present embodiment.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling the robot cleaner 130a when the cleaning place is a large area. The control method of the gateway 110a, the router 120a, the robot cleaner 130a, and the monitoring PC 140a will be described with reference to FIG. 2. Meanwhile, since the time-series implementation of the control device of the robot cleaner 130a of FIG. 2 corresponds to the present embodiment, it is described in the gateway 110a, the router 120a, the robot cleaner 130a, and the monitoring PC 140a. The part is also applied to this embodiment as it is.

According to an embodiment, the gateway 110a which assigns each cleaning charge zone to the robot cleaners and transmits a cleaning execution control command to the robot cleaners 130a allocates a network address and binds it with the router 120a. Perform (S310). Subsequently, the router 120a performs binding again with the robot cleaners 130a (S315). The bound robot cleaners 130a receive a designated cleaning area from the gateway 110a. In addition, the robot cleaners 130a receive a positioning signal from the router 120a and check their position (S320). In this case, the above-described binding between the gateway 110a, the router 120a, and the robot cleaner 130a is performed by one method selected from among TCP / IP, Bluetooth, infrared signals, and ZigBee standards. In general, it is advantageous for binding and signal transmission that a ZigBee having a simple index layer of a transmission signal is selected. On the other hand, when the router 120a transmits a positioning signal including its position X and Y coordinates to the robot cleaner 130a, the robot cleaner 130a may receive its own signal based on the signals received from the routers 120a. You can check the location. According to an embodiment, a method using Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI), a method using a time difference of arrival (TDOA), and a time of arrival method using a signal It is possible to determine its position by a method selected from a method, a method using a chirp spread spectrum of a signal, and a method using an angle of arrival of a signal. Meanwhile, a case in which the robot cleaner uses RSSI in an embodiment for checking its position will be described with reference to FIG. 4.

The gateway 110a transmits a cleaning start command, a cleaning end, a cleaning area assignment, a charge, and a cleaning end to the robot cleaner 130a as a cleaning execution command. The robot cleaner 130a determines the command received from the gateway 110a and checks its position from the positioning signal received from the router 120a when starting the cleaning (S325) command and starts cleaning (S340). ). The robot cleaner 130a recognizes the location of the charger when the command received from the gateway 110a is the charging command S330 (S345). According to an embodiment, since the routers 120a serve as a charging dock of the robot cleaner 130a, the location recognition of the router 120a corresponds to the charger location recognition. At least one of the robot cleaners 130a may include an image camera, and the image information collected from the image cameras may be monitored by the monitoring PC 140a for monitoring the cleaning state through the gateway 110a in the data exchange step S335. Can transmit At this time, the monitoring PC (140a) and the gateway (110a) is connected by selecting any one method selected from the wireless or wired method of the TCP / IP standard or RS-232, RS-422 and RS-485.

In operation S350, the robot cleaner 130a performs other management functions necessary for performing cleaning. When the cleaning is finished, the robot cleaner 130a performs a return algorithm when the cleaning is required or when the cleaning operation is stopped for other reasons (S355). In this case, the feedback algorithm preferably uses the method of using the RSSI in the embodiment for the robot cleaner 130a to check its position.

4 is a flowchart for a robot cleaner to perform a feedback algorithm by a method of RSSI. The method of RSSI is that the signal received intensity of the signal received from the router 120a moves toward the higher side. The RSSI is measured (S410) and the RSSI measured earlier and the RSSI measured later according to the movement (S420) of the robot cleaner 130a. In operation S430, it is determined whether the sensitivity of the RSSI is improved by comparing the two. When the sensitivity of the RSSI is improved, the robot cleaner 130a continues to move in the same direction (S450). When the sensitivity of the RSSI is not improved, the robot cleaner 130a modifies the traveling direction (S440) to allow the robot cleaner 130 to direct the router 120a. The robot cleaner 130a moves in the direction in which the RSSI is improved and stops at the final position (S460). According to the above-described embodiment, since the router 120a serves as the charging dock of the robot cleaner 130a, the robot cleaner 130a can quickly return to the charging dock by the feedback algorithm by the RSSI method.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing how cleaning is performed by a few routers 120b and a robot cleaner 130b when the cleaning place is a small area. According to one embodiment, four routers 120b are located at positions corresponding to the corners of the cleaning area, and the robot cleaners 130b are shown to perform cleaning in the space created by the four routers 120b. have. However, the number of routers 120b and the robot cleaner 130b and the range of the divided cleaning spaces are not limited thereto and may have various embodiments depending on the reach of radio waves and the shape of the cleaning place. According to an embodiment of the method of FIG. 5, the robot cleaner control apparatus in a small area includes a router 120b, a robot cleaner 130b, and a monitoring PC 140b. When the cleaning area is small, each of the robot cleaners 130b does not need to be assigned a cleaning area. Therefore, it can be seen that the robot cleaner control apparatus in the small area does not include the gateway. When the robot cleaner control device does not include a gateway, the monitoring PC 140 is connected to the router 120b having a port connectable with the monitoring PC 140b to receive image information. In this case, it is preferable that the connectable port is selected from RS-232, RS-422 or RS-485, but any method of connection under favorable conditions in carrying out the technology such as unit price and connection signal quality of the components constituting the port is selected. Can be.

According to one embodiment of the technology, it is possible to perform the efficient cleaning of the large area by controlling the movement of the individual cleaning robot using a gateway and a router. In addition, it is possible to monitor the cleaning state by receiving image information from a robot cleaner (not shown) equipped with an image camera.

6 is a schematic diagram showing that the management server 610 for managing the regional cleaning situation to control the robot cleaner 130 for each region through the Internet network. According to an embodiment, the monitoring PC 140 is connected to the management server 610 for integrated management of cleaning conditions for each region through an internet network and transmits image information received from the robot cleaner 130 to the management server 610. In addition, the management server 610 may remotely control the robot cleaner 130 by transmitting a cleaning performance control command.

The disclosed method and apparatus have been described with reference to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings for ease of understanding, but these are merely exemplary, and various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible to those skilled in the art. Will understand. Therefore, the true technical protection scope of the disclosed technology should be defined by the appended claims.

110: gateway
120: router
130: robot cleaner

Claims (24)

At least one robot cleaner having a wireless communication function for allocating and cleaning a large area;
A gateway for assigning each cleaning charge zone to the at least one robot cleaner and transmitting a cleaning performance control command to the at least one robot cleaner; And
Receives the information on the cleaning area from the gateway and the cleaning performance control command to the at least one robot cleaner, and transmits a positioning signal to the at least one robot cleaner receiving the positioning signal Wireless network-based robot cleaner control device comprising one or more routers to identify their location. The method of claim 1,
The connection between the gateway, the router and the robot cleaner,
Wireless network-based robot cleaner control device connected by one method selected from TCP / IP, Bluetooth, infrared signal and ZigBee standards. The method of claim 1,
The positioning signal is a wireless network-based robot cleaner control device including the X, Y coordinates of the router. The method of claim 1,
The cleaning performance control command,
A wireless network-based robot cleaner control device including instructions for cleaning start, cleaning end, cleaning area assignment, automatic system stop, charging and parking. The method of claim 1,
At least one of the at least one robot cleaner comprises an image camera, the robot cleaner control device for transmitting the image information to the gateway. 6. The method of claim 5,
And a monitoring PC for monitoring a cleaning state through image information collected from the robot cleaner having the image camera. The method according to claim 6,
The monitoring PC is a wireless network-based robot cleaner control device connected to the gateway by selecting any one of the wired and wireless methods of the TCP / IP standard, RS-232, RS-422 and RS-485. The method according to claim 6,
The monitoring PC is connected to the management server for the integrated management of the cleaning situation by region and the Internet through a wireless network to transmit the image information to the management server, and receives the cleaning execution control command from the management server to the gateway Robot cleaner control unit. The method of claim 1,
The router is a wireless network-based robot cleaner control device including a function of the charging dock of the robot cleaners. The method according to claim 6,
At least one of the routers are provided with a RS-232, RS-422 or RS-485 port is connected to the wireless network-based robot cleaner control device. The method of claim 1,
The robot cleaner,
A method of using the X and Y coordinates of the router included in the positioning signal of the router, a method of using a received signal strength indication (RSSI) of the signal, a time difference of arrival (Arrival) of the signal, TDOA), the method of using the time of arrival of the signal (Time of Arrival), the method of using the chirp Spread Spectrum of the signal and the angle of arrival (Angle of Arrival) using the signal Wireless network-based robot cleaner control device for identifying its location by the method selected from among the methods. 12. The method of claim 11,
The robot cleaner includes an RSSI measuring unit measuring the RSSI; And
And a RSSI sensitivity determiner configured to determine whether to improve the sensitivity of the RSSI according to the movement of the robot cleaner. What is claimed is: 1. A method of controlling one or more robotic vacuum cleaners having a wireless communication function for allocating large areas of cleaning.
Assigning a network address to the at least one robot cleaner and assigning a network address to a gateway that transmits a cleaning performance control command to the at least one robot cleaner;
One or more routers assigned to the network address and bound to the gateway to perform binding again with the robot cleaners;
Receiving, by the router, the responsible area information and the cleaning performance control command from the gateway to the robot cleaners; And
And confirming the location of the robot cleaner to the one or more robot cleaners which have received the positioning signal sent by the router. The method of claim 13,
The binding between the gateway, the router and the robot cleaner,
Robot cleaner control method performed by one method selected from TCP / IP, Bluetooth, infrared signal and ZigBee standard. The method of claim 13,
The positioning signal is a robot cleaner control method comprising the X, Y coordinates of the router. The method of claim 13,
The cleaning performance control command,
Robot cleaner control method including instructions for start cleaning, end cleaning, assign cleaning area, stop the system automatically, charge and park The method of claim 13,
At least one of the one or more robot cleaners includes an image camera to transmit image information to the gateway. The method of claim 13,
And a monitoring PC for monitoring a cleaning state through image information collected from the robot cleaner having the image camera. 19. The method of claim 18,
The monitoring PC is a robot cleaner control method connected to the gateway by selecting any one selected from the wired / wireless method of the TCP / IP standard, RS-232, RS-422 and RS-485. 19. The method of claim 18,
The monitoring PC is connected to the management server for the integrated management of the cleaning situation for each region through the Internet network to transmit the image information to the management server, the robot cleaner control to receive the cleaning performance control command from the management server and transmit to the gateway Way. The method of claim 13,
And the router comprises a function of a charging dock of the robot cleaners. The method of claim 13,
At least one of the routers are provided with an RS-232, RS-422 or RS-485 port to the robot cleaner control method connected to the monitoring PC. The method of claim 13,
The robot cleaner,
A method of using the X and Y coordinates of the router included in the positioning signal of the router, a method of using a received signal strength indication (RSSI) of the signal, a time difference of arrival (Arrival) of the signal, TDOA), the method of using the time of arrival of the signal (Time of Arrival), the method of using the chirp Spread Spectrum of the signal and the angle of arrival (Angle of Arrival) using the signal A robot cleaner control method for identifying its own position by a method selected from among the methods. 24. The method of claim 23,
The robot cleaner comprises: an RSSI measuring step of measuring the RSSI; And
And a RSSI sensitivity determination step of determining whether or not the sensitivity of the RSSI is improved according to the movement of the robot cleaner.

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